


Unknown Territory

by OniZenmaru



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Humor, Ludger is a goddamn nerd, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-05-13 21:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14757020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OniZenmaru/pseuds/OniZenmaru
Summary: Julius just wanted to know what Ludger's hobbies were...he didn't expect to get sucked into them as well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when you detest OreImo but like the idea of one sibling discovering the other is a huge ass anime fan

Staring down at the box he’d placed on the kitchen table, Julius knows this one accident has screwed up his entire relationship with his little brother.

The package in the mail had simply been addressed to a ‘Mr. Kresnik’, and Julius had ordered their cat an assortment of toys that was expected to arrive that very week. So of course he opened the inconspicuous brown package without a second thought, and if he could rewind time, he’d punch himself straight in the jaw for being so hasty. What slipped out of the package was a thick, rectangular box wrapped in plastic, and as soon as his eyes landed on the cover, all Julius could do was stare in utter shock.

Across the top was the title ‘ _Your Sweet Love – Fan Disk –_ _ENGLISH_ _PC VERSION‘,_ and underneath it was a drawing of a man surrounded by several other men, their hands all over the body of the one in the center. His mind went blank for a good minute, and once he came to his senses he damn near dropped it in a moment of panic. After a quick catch he placed it on the kitchen table, and for a longest time all he could do was stare at from where he sat.

Running his fingers through his hair, Julius knows there’s only two options right now. One, he can put the game back in the parcel, seal it up as best he can, and pretend he’d never touched it in the first place. Or…he could confront his little brother about it and just get the awkward moment over with. Julius really, really wants to go with the former, but his mind screams at him that the latter is the correct way to go. Why? Because as hard as it is to admit, Julius knows NOTHING about Ludger.

Despite growing up together, he couldn’t think of one time when his brother picked up a hobby or expressed an interested in something. Well, except cooking, but that was only because Julius is an absolute disaster in the kitchen. He really didn’t know what his little brother like outside of the basics, and this is a golden opportunity to finally dig a little deeper. Ludger liked…whatever the game is enough to purchase it, so maybe he could get him to talk about it, if only a little.

He jumps upon hearing the door to their apartment open, and all he can do now is swallow hard as he readies himself for what’s to come.

“Sorry I’m late,” he hears Ludger say, “I stopped at the grocery store since they were having a sale. Is lasagna okay for tonight? I know we’ve had pasta two nights in a row already-”

“Hey, um, could you come here for a second?” Julius asks, and he’s really trying his best to hide the nervousness in his voice.

“Sure,” Ludger says before placing the plastic bags he’s holding on the counter.

Clenching his jaw tightly, Julius can hear his heart pounding in his ears which each approaching step Ludger takes. Oh god…he’s really going to do this…wait, can he really do this?

“What’s up-?”

His words are cut off by the strangled sound he makes once he lays eyes on the box on the table. Ludger’s eyes widen, and for a split second his face pales before it’s dyed a shade of bright red that manages to reach the tips of his ears. Julius has never seen him so embarrassed before. Damn, now he doesn’t know what to say, so he watches Ludger fidget in place like a kid that’s in trouble-

 ** _Shit_** …Another wave of panic begins to set in because Ludger thinks he’s done wrong; Julius hasn’t given him a reason to think otherwise, so that’s probably the first thing he should address.

“I’m so sorry, I thought the package was for me since I ordered cat toys for Rollo, that’s why I opened it,” he quickly says, “and um, it’s okay if you like cartoon games, really.”

Seemingly explicit cartoon games he wants to say, but he manages to choke that one back.

“Ah…” Ludger squeaks out, eyes on the floor.

They go silent, and it feels far more awkward than Julius had imagined. He wanted to know what Ludger is interested in, but how does he even start that conversation? ‘Oh hey, tell me more about this weird game’, ‘what are those guys doing?’, ‘it’s porn, right?’…None of those were going to work, and it’d only make him shrink back further. Julius really wishes he’d thought this through a little more, at least enough to get past this silence.

“It’s, um…a dating sim…” he says barely above a whisper.

“Oh…okay. So, you, uh…play a guy that dates other guys?”

Ludger lets out a groan that makes it clear he’s absolutely mortified, and as he covers his face with his hands, Julius feels terrible for making him feel like that. He should stop the conversation now.

“Please just tell me it’s weird, you don’t have to beat around the bush,” he says, voice raising a good two octaves as he does so.

Julius clenches his jaw again before answering.

“Yeah, it’s…it’s weird, Ludger, but…” he lets out a long, shaky breath before continuing, “It’s _your_ thing. I may find it weird, but you’re an adult. And really, I want to know more about the stuff you like…because I feel so out of loop when it comes to your interests. I mean, if you really don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”

Silence falls between them again, but this time it doesn’t feel as heavy as it did before. Ludger slowly begins to drop his hands from his face, but his eyes are still glued to the floor. Julius opens his mouth to say something else, but quickly closes it. He’s said more than enough, so he leaves whatever needs to be said to Ludger.

“…Can we…talk about this another time? J-Just so I have some time to think and make a decision…”

“Yeah, of course.”

The moment he sees Ludger start to relax a bit, Julius begins to do the same. He quickly retreats into the kitchen without another word, so Julius takes this as a hint that the conversation is over.

* * *

 

An entire week goes by, and Ludger seemed to do everything within his power to pretend that their little talk hadn’t happened. The very next day he was all smiles as he went about his daily routine, but as Julius watched him, he couldn’t help but notice Ludger’s slip-ups. The two of them never held eye contact for more than a few seconds before his little brother averted his gaze elsewhere or quickly excuse himself. When not actively fleeing from him, Ludger looked lost in thought, which wouldn’t have been a problem if he wasn’t doing chores while it happened.

He’d ironed through three shirts, burned their dinner twice, and walked right into the wall next to his bedroom door. But when Ludger damn nearly cuts off a finger while preparing a meal, Julius realized he needed to put a stop to things. On his way home from work he was determined to tell Ludger that it was all right, that he didn’t need share anything with him if just thinking about it was causing him so much distress.

Well that was the original plan before Ludger grabbed his wrist as soon as he entered the apartment. Before he could get a single word out, he was quickly dragged to his brother’s room, the door shutting loudly as soon as he entered.

So he just sits on his brother’s bed, watching as he gives him a stern look. Despite the air of seriousness Ludger tries to give off, Julius can see a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. After a few seconds Ludger looks away, but he seems to gather his wits and look back. Now is probably a good time for Julius take a bit of that weight off his brother’s shoulders, but as he opens his mouth to speak, Ludger beats him to it.

“Did…did you mean what you said before…?” he questions, leaning forward a bit as he does so.

“Um, about what-?”

“About being interested in the things I like.”

Without hesitation he tells him that yes, yes he meant what he said, but more importantly he wants Ludger to be _comfortable_ talking to him. Another silence falls, but this time Julius thinks it’s not from awkwardness but from Ludger taking what he said to heart. Julius might’ve been curious, but he would not allow his curiosity to win out at the expense of his little brother’s comfort.

“…I don’t think I’ll ever be totally okay with talking to you about it, I mean…” he averts his gaze, the blush on his face deepening a bit. “You’d be the second real life person I’ve talked to about it, and Nova barely counts since she was already in the know about this stuff.”

Straightening up, Ludger admits that having someone else to ‘rant to’ other than Nova would be nice, though Julius withholds feeling flattered until his brother gives him the okay. After a few seconds Ludger lets out a loud huff, and Julius doesn’t resist as his brother pulls him up by the wrist. They don’t go far; Ludger stops in front of his closet, a place Julius never ventured into so of course it’d be the perfect place to hide whatever. Ludger pushes aside a couple of shirts to get to the back, and he knows exactly what he’s doing.

With both their closets there’s a space for extra storage behind a sliding door in the back, and even though Julius thinks it’s not quite big enough to fit a bunch of stuff, Ludger has clearly made it work for his hobby. His brother gives him a quick look over his shoulder before he begins to open the door, and once Julius has a clear view of what’s inside, he’s dumbstruck.

The first three shelves are lined with what looks like books, and as he scans each row he sees boxes that resemble the one he’d accidently found in the mail. Some of the titles on the spins are in English while others are written in a language he vaguely recognizes; Ludger will probably explain it to him, so he simply moves on. The middle two shelves are occupied by figurines of various sizes, each one striking a different, dynamic pose. He stares at one positioned near the front for a few seconds, and then it dawns on him that he’s seen that character…on the cover of that PC game.

The last shelf holds plush toys of strange animals Julius can’t even begin to identify, though one does vaguely resemble a cat if he squints. Next to the toys are an assortment of keychains; some of them look like miniature versions of the figurines, while others looks like drawing printed on a thin piece of plastic. There’s just so much stuff that in front of him he can’t help but feel overwhelmed, and it’s amazes him that he’s never he caught a glimpse of any of it until last week.

“I like anime and manga…they’re basically Japanese cartoons and comics,” he mutters, blush reaching the tips of his ears again.

Julius doesn’t mean for the ‘huh’ he gives off to sound indifferent, so he clears his throat to give a proper response.

“I see…Wait, so you can understand Japanese?”

“Yeah, I’ve been teaching myself since middle school.”

That’s…impressive. As soon as he tells Ludger how amazed he is, his brother gives him a goofy, lopsided smile, but it disappears as quickly as it appears. He admits that learning a language just to further enjoy his hobby doesn’t seem like that big of an achievement, let alone something worth praising. Julius can’t help but feel taken aback, even if some part of him was expecting a response along those lines. Sometimes he forgets about his brother’s self-esteem issues, and it’s in these moments that Julius knows he needs to flex his big brother muscle.

“No, I mean it, I’m seriously impressed,” he says while placing a hand on Ludger’s shoulder. “I don’t think I’d have the motivation to learn a different language _just because_ , let alone for as long as you’ve been doing it. I’m proud of you.”

Ludger looks skeptical, but as a small smile slowly spreads across his lips, Julius knows he’s taken his words to heart.

Once he relaxes a little more, Ludger goes over everything in his closet, from the comic books called manga and why they’re read backwards, to a brief history of what anime is. As he listens intently, flipping through one of the books as he does so, something catches his eye in the corner of the closet.

“What’s that?” Julius asks while motioning to the unmarked carboard box.

“Oh, that? I just keep my old OTP stuff in there. I mean, I still ship a lot of it, but newer stuff…takes …priority…u-um…”

He has no idea what his brother just said, and as Ludger blushes deeply while covering his face, Julius has a feeling this is going to be a long process…


	2. Chapter 2

“Why don’t they attack the girl while she’s transforming?”

“Dunno.”

“I…see…”

They’re six episodes into this show, and Julius feels like he knows so little. However, he _does_ know he shouldn’t let his confusion hinder him from enjoying (or at least observing) what’s going on, especially since his little brother is willingly to let them share this moment.

Ludger didn’t immediately jump at the chance to show him more of his hobby, but Julius didn’t mind waiting for him to do so. If anything, he was happy that his brother could be more relaxed around him; a tense, spacey Ludger was not something he’d like to experience again. A month went by before Ludger sheepishly asked if he wanted to watch a movie with him, and it didn’t take long for Julius to figure out what he was _actually_ asking him.

He said yes without hesitation.

The story revolved around two teenagers randomly switching bodies, and Julius was completely taken aback at how gorgeous the film was. He really didn’t know much about animation, but the visuals really amazed and impressed him. However, Julius found himself confused about a few things. The culture, particularly the school system, looked completely different than the one in their country, and couldn’t help but ask Ludger about it.

Julius felt a little bad having Ludger constantly pause the movie, but he was more than happy to answer any of his questions.

He was told that most students in high school were required to wear a uniform, and each one was unique to whichever school they were attending. There were no school buses, so many used some form of public transportation, bike, or simply walked from their homes to the building. Regular, everyday shoes were not allowed in school, so each student was given a pair that were only meant to be worn inside. Everyone was given a small locker or cubby near the entrance to store them, though because they were easily accessible, unfortunate things sometime happened.

The school system itself had some differences too; to get into the high school of their choice, the students needed to take an entrance exam. Instead of immediately starting classes, everyone reports to their homeroom where role was taken, and announcements made. The subjects rotated throughout the week, so a class could have history in the morning one day, while the next have it sometime during the afternoon. When it came to lunch, a majority of high schools didn’t have a cafeteria, so student could either bring their own homemade lunches or buy bread or milk from the school store.

He found it all very interesting, but even more interesting was that his little brother seemed to be telling him things off the top of his head. Ludger had made it very clear beforehand that he was no expert, that he was just repeating the thing he had learned from the internet, books, and documentaries. Even knowing this, he couldn’t help but that the extent of his knowledge was damn impressive.  

Ludger quietly asked what he thought of the movie as soon as it was over, and Julius could see that all the previous confidence he had was gone. He tells him that despite the cultural differences, he really enjoyed it, and his words immediately lifted his brother’s mood. Since he looked pleased, Julius decided to take it further; he said that if Ludger ever wanted to watch another one, he’d be more than happy to join him.

It slowly became routine for them to watch at least one movie or show Ludger suggested a week. Julius still felt bad about questioning whatever aspect of the show he didn’t get, but seeing his brother happily explain everything made up for it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a magical girl show where that happens, though I do like the transformation sequences,” Ludger says, and Julius can’t help but agree.

“I do like the blue girl’s transformation.”

“Yeah, she’s always been my favorite. She also gets the best character arc-”

A knock at the door interrupts him, and Ludger looks confused for a second before quickly getting up. Julius asks if he should pause the video until he comes back, but is told that Ludger has seen the show enough times to know it all by heart. With a small hum of acknowledgement, he turns his attention back to the television.

The big fight has just ended, and the blue magical girl sits alone in her room as she stares at the ‘life plan’ handout she’d gotten earlier in class. She wonders about her future, because she knows full well that she can’t be a magical girl forever. At some point she and her friends would defeat the big bad, and the uncertainty of what will happen after terrifies her. As tears form in the corner of her eyes, her voice shaking as she sobs out that she doesn’t want them to forget each other, Julius is taken aback by how heart wrenching the whole scene is.

It isn’t hard to relate to her feelings, and he swallows a lump in his throat as he thinks back to the friends he hasn’t spoke to since high school. Sometimes growing up meant growing apart, and that’s a harsh reality for any kid to accept.

Julius is completely absorbed into the scene…until a loud gasp startles him. Even Rollo, who had been sleeping comfortable on his lap, jumps at the sound.

“Is he watching what I think he’s watching?!”

Over by the door stood Nova, and the only way to describe her expression is pure awe. Ludger looks a bit rattled by her sudden gasp as well, but he gives off a small sigh before shaking his head. He explains that it’s been approximately a month and a half since he’d told Julius about his hobby, though Julius can’t help but notice that his little brother had conveniently glossed over the part about _how_ he’d come to find out about his hobby. It’s probably for the best, especially given how mortified Ludger had been.

“See? I told you if you let him know he’d understand,” Nova says as he nudges Ludger in the side with her elbow.

“That was back in high school, and I never talked about the stuff out in the open with anyone besides you.”

“You should’ve joined the Anime Club-”

“Absolutely not.”

Nova teasingly tells Julius that Ludger had always been more comfortable talking to strangers on the internet about his interests, and from the way he blushes, Julius knows she’s telling the truth. It makes sense that his little brother would be more open thanks to the anonymity of the web, but Julius does wonder why he seems a bit wary about talking to people outside of the internet, especially if they shared his interests. He’s learned that prying too much would only lead to Ludger becoming uncomfortable, and the last thing he wants if for his brother to shut him out.

Placing the issue on the backburner until Ludger is ready to talk about it is always the best option he’s learned.

“Oh, you guys are watching it dubbed instead of subbed?” Nova asks, and Julius cocks and eyebrow in confusion.

“Dubbed? What’s that?” he asks, and in return Nova gives him a look of confusion before looking at Ludger.

“You didn’t tell him about that? Isn’t that just basic stuff?” she asks.

“I mean…I just figured he didn’t want to read subtitles, so I never brought it up…” he says as he rubs the back of his head.

She huffs a little before turning her attention back to Julius.

“Well, dubbing is when the Japanese audio for an anime is replaced with a different language. A lot of anime DVDs come with the option to watch the dub or sub. Which you go with depends on your personal preference, but I think everyone should hear the original audio at least once.” She playfully nudges Ludger’s side again. “Come on, come on, let’s watch the episode subbed and see what he thinks.”

“I don’t mind reading subtitles, so it’s fine with me,” Julius chimes in since Ludger looks skeptical about it, but his words appear to sway him.

Nova walks over and (unceremoniously) plops down on the couch to his right, while Ludger sits back down to his left. Rollo has clearly had enough of all the noise, so he hops down from his lap, and Julius can’t help but make a sound of disappointment as the fat cat waddles off. The feeling quickly vanishes once he sees Ludger pick up the remote, and with a few clicks the screen is sent back to the main menu. It takes him no time to switch the language to Japanese while turning on the subtitles, and before pressing play Ludger tells him that if gets confused he can switch back.

Hearing the Japanese voices for the first time is jarring since he had gotten so use to the English ones for the last six episodes, but it’s certainly not off-putting nor something he couldn’t get use to. As for reading the subtitles… _that’s_ something he needs more practice with. Since the episode is mostly action, Julius jumps between watching what’s happening but missing the dialogue, to missing the dialogue to see what’s happening.

It’s not easy, but he doesn’t intend to give up so quickly. He does better during the slower scenes, though the blue magical girl talking about not wanting to be alone punches him in the gut again. The delivery itself sounds and feels different, but that raw emotion is still there. By the time the credits start to roll, he definitely sees why watching a dub would appeal to some people.

“It…was a little hard to follow.”

“I told you to-”

“But not impossible. I just need more practice, so let’s watch another one,” Julius adds quickly so Ludger doesn’t jump to conclusions.

The last thing he wants is for Ludger to think he didn’t enjoy himself. His brother looks skeptical for a second, but mutters a small ‘if you say so’ instead of questioning him. Julius has learned that Ludger can get rather timid when introducing something new to him about his hobby, even if he does so willingly. It’s almost like Ludger expects him to hate everything he shows him, or that he’d judge him harshly for the content. Yes, there were things Julius found odd or just couldn’t wrap his head around, but…exploring it with Ludger makes it interesting.

It takes Julius three more episodes to get the hang of things, if only a little, but he figures he should pat himself on the back for managing that much. Every now and then Nova makes comments about Ludger’s favorite scenes, though it isn’t until she points out that he had the biggest crush on the anti-hero in the series that his little brother finally responds. His face goes beat red, and the ‘shh!’ he gives off is completely ignored as Nova tells him that Ludger would constantly fawn over the guy online when the show first came out. She goes on to say that Ludger was so into the guy that for the entire first year of high school his phone lock screen, laptop background, and social media icon had been of him.

“But by the time the show ended he was shipping him with Mr.-”

“Oh my god, Nova, for the love of everything that is holy, **_stop_** , **_STOP_** ,” Ludger pleads as he tosses a throw pillow in Nova direction.

Despite getting nailed right in the face, Nova laughs, and before the situation got anymore out of hand, Julius give a stern warning to knock it off.

“No more throwing pillows and no more embarrassing stories…Also, what exactly is a ‘ship’ and ‘shipping’? Clearly is has nothing to do with actual boats, is it slang for something?” he asks, and once again his brother’s face lights up.

“I thought it was a cute story!” Nova says, though she seems to take the hint from the look Julius shoots her. “Sorry, fine, I drop it. Anyways, since poor Ludger might pass out if anymore blood rushes to his head, I’ll let him explain.”

“Um…well…I-I’ll tell you another time since I’m liable to…ramble about the topic. Let’s just finish the show,” he mutters, and Julius knows that’s his cue to stop asking questions.

Thankfully Nova doesn’t bring up anything else that sends Ludger into a fit of embarrassment while they watch the remaining three episodes, though she and Ludger do shout out the name of the ultimate attack the same time the main character does in the final episode. Julius tries his best to hold back a laugh, not because he thinks it’s stupid, but because it’s so damn cute how into it the two of them are. Ludger seems to catch himself, but Nova encourages him to sing the song playing in the background.

It takes him a second, but he starts to sing, the tips of his ears turning red as he does so.

 

* * *

 

Julius isn’t sure what’s worse: the light filtering through the window, or the alarm on his phone going off. Either way, he needs to get up and get ready for work. The previous night he’d made the unfortunate mistake of not paying attention to the time, and before he knew it the sun had set. Even Nova was surprised at how late it had gotten, admitting that she had only stopped by to drop off a game Ludger lent her last week. Clearly everyone had lost track of time, but at least the time spent was enjoyable.

Well…enjoyable then, but now all Julius wants to do is get a few more minutes of sleep. An hour would’ve been great, but that’s really pushing it. Since he doesn’t feel a warm, heavy pressure near his feet, he knows Rollo slept in Ludger’s room, which would make getting out of bed easier. But he still really, really doesn’t want to get up. It takes him a full three minutes to just sit up, and another to just sit on the side of the bed. The yawn he gives off sounds awkward and loud, but clearly his shame is still asleep much like he’d like to be.

Once he’s up, he leaves his room and makes a beeline for the bathroom. Since there’s only one, it doesn’t surprise him to see Ludger brushing his teeth, and it’s obvious from the way he looks that he’s just as tired as him. His brother moves over a little to make room for him, and Julius mutters a small ‘thanks’ before getting everything he needs for a shave. Brain fog prevents him from saying anything else, and he figures that a few more minutes are needed for him to form a coherent sentence.

It isn’t until he’s toweling off his face that he notices Ludger staring at him.

“What?”

“It’s just…” Ludger starts as he gives him a goofy looking smile. “You were humming the theme song from the anime we watched yesterday.”

Huh…he hadn’t even noticed.


End file.
